This invention relates to an optical fiber multi-way connector.
In an optical fiber connector there needs, on account of the very small diameter of an optical fiber, to be very critical alignment of the end of each fiber with its counterpart in a co-operating connector. This alignment is achieved by the provision, in both connectors, of reference surfaces relative to which the positions of the fibers are accurately known. These reference surfaces are mechanically brought into alignment as the connectors are mated. In principle, the reference surfaces could be provided by the bare fibers themselves, but in practice this would be difficult on account of their extreme fragility. Instead, it is usually preferred to provide each optical fiber end with a larger, more robust, reference surface in the form of a ferrule. Such a ferrule is a tubular structure, normally made of metal, into one end of which an optical fiber is inserted and secured so that at the other end of the ferrule the fiber and ferrule axes are accurately aligned. In this context, it is to be noted that a plastic coated optical fiber is not necessarily concentric within its plastic coating, and hence care must be taken to insure that in the securing of a ferrule to a plastic coated optical fiber, the alignment of the ferrule is determined with reference to the fiber itself rather than with reference to its coating. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a multi-way connector for accurately aligning and coupling a plurality of pairs of optical fibers with a relatively low insertion force.